‘Spiteful’ mother faces jail after faking a DNA test and lying on her newborn baby’s birth certificate to stop the biological father seeing his children
A ‘hateful’ mother faces jail for falsifying her daughter’s DNA test and lying on her newborn baby’s birth certificate to prevent the biological father from seeing his children.
Georgina Saville edited a photo of a DNA test she found online to say her new boyfriend was actually the father of her newborn baby instead of her ex, Kyle Fitton.
The 25-year-old, who has a master’s degree in forensic psychology, admitted the act to jurors but claimed it was “obvious” that it was not a real DNA test and that he had only done it to protect his lawyer to get rid of her.
However, jurors today concluded that she had done so to try to “derail” Fitton’s legal attempt to see his children.
It was heard that Saville, who already had another daughter with her 28-year-old ex, lied about the paternity of their newborn girl to ‘deter’ him and his lawyers from pursuing his legal claim for access to both daughters.
‘Hateful’ Georgina Saville, 25, faces jail for faking her daughter’s DNA test and lying on her newborn’s birth certificate to prevent biological father from seeing his children
Saville edited a photo of a DNA test she found online to say that her new boyfriend Danny Mellows was actually the father of her newborn baby instead of her ex, Kyle Fitton (pictured)
When Mr. Fitton’s lawyers asked to take a DNA test, she sent them false results to prove that the newborn was actually the daughter of her new boyfriend, Danny Mellows.
After initially leaving the father’s section of the birth certificate blank, she then went to the registration office and added Mr Mellows’ name – despite previously admitting her two girls were ‘full-blood sisters’.
Today, after a four-day trial at Southampton Crown Court, she was convicted of perverting the course of public justice and a rare charge of deliberately making a false report of a birth.
The jurors had only two hours to deliberate before delivering the verdict.
Saville, from Southampton, wept quietly in the dock as she was sentenced.
Judge Peter Henry warned Saville she could face jail time, telling the court that ‘all options would be considered’ at her sentencing in November.
Opening the case earlier this week, prosecutor Nick Tucker said the offenses stemmed from an “unfortunate” and “toxic” four-year relationship.
Saville and Mr Fitton welcomed their first daughter in March 2019, before things ‘took a turn for the worse’.
He said: “It was in April 2021 that the suspect became pregnant with [their second daughter] but soon after, Kyle moved out and went back to live with his mother.”
The court heard Saville continued to ‘maintain a good relationship’ with Fitton’s mother Jayne, accompanying her to pregnancy scans, mediating between the pair and often exchanging messages.
The court heard Saville still ‘maintained a good relationship’ with Mr Fitton’s mother, Jayne (seen), despite her ‘toxic’ relationship with Mr Fitton, 28
However, after the girl was born in January 2022, it was learned that the relationship between Saville and Mr Fitton had soured and she would not ‘allow’ him to see the newborn.
As a result, she sent a text message to his mother saying, “I’m sorry, I just need to make sure [the girls] are treated fairly because they are full-blooded sisters.
‘He’s not allowed to be there [one of their lives] but not in it [the other]’s – it’s not fair [one] have a father and [the other] not.
“That’s why the only way it’s fair is if he’s not here at all.”
Mr Tucker said Saville was “very angry” with Mr Fitton in February 2022, prompting her to leave the father’s name blank on the birth certificate at the registry office.
The court heard Saville posted photos of the two girls and her new boyfriend ‘as if they were family’ and had even encouraged the older girl to call Mr Mellows ‘daddy’.
In March 2022, Saville applied for a non-abuse order against Mr Fitton, who filed his own order against her.
He also initiated legal proceedings in the Family Court over access to his two children and the addition of his name to the newborn’s birth certificate.
The court found that his eligibility to apply for these orders ‘depended on his having parental responsibility’ because he was the biological father.
Saville was asked by Mr Fitton’s lawyer to have her youngest daughter’s DNA tested after she claimed he was not the father and that her daughter had ‘nothing to do with him’.
She eventually sent what she believed to be the DNA test result, claiming that Mr. Mellows was her daughter’s father.
Mr Tucker said she had ‘misrepresented’ the baby’s paternity, adding: ‘Everyone in this case is saying that’s not true.
‘Danny Mellows wasn’t the father – she knew Kyle Fitton was the father.’
In July 2022, the court heard that another DNA test had been ordered at the Family Court, which showed Mr Fitton was the father, after Saville admitted she had ‘faked’ the previous test result.
During the hearing at the family court, her lawyer said she had ‘panicked’ and made an ‘ill-informed decision’.
The court heard she went back to the registration office to change the birth certificate to show Mr Mellows was the father – which they both signed.
Mr Tucker said: ‘He wasn’t the father. He must have known that, and Georgina Saville certainly did.
“Knowing that Kyle was the father, she made a false statement to Births and Deaths, knowing that doing so would effectively prove [Mr Mellows] had parental responsibility while [Mr Fitton] wouldn’t.’
After her arrest, the court heard Saville told officers that ‘biology didn’t mean anything’ and that she had provided a ‘made up’ DNA test to ‘save herself some money’ and get Mr Fitton ‘off my back’.
The court heard she had also threatened to remove Mr Fitton from their first child’s birth certificate and texted him saying he would “never see her and his children again” and that he should take her to court.
Kyle Fitton (pictured) moved away permanently after Saville became pregnant with their second daughter
The photo shows Southampton Crown Court, where the trial of Georgina Saville took place. She will be sentenced on November 5
In evidence, Saville admitted falsifying the DNA test result by downloading an image online and editing her daughter’s names and those of Mr Mellows.
She claimed she did this simply to get his lawyer to “stop bothering me, stop sending me emails” and told jurors it would have been “obvious” that it wasn’t legitimate because she “didn’t go to many places.” attempt’.
Mr Tucker added: ‘It is clear she knew full well that Kyle Fitton was indeed the father.
“She provided a document that she knew misrepresented the facts [her child]’s paternity.
“She attempted to deceive him and his attorney and, if taken at face value, that test result could have deterred him from pursuing the proceedings further.”
“We say this was a spiteful and calculated attempt to unfairly derail his case.
“What she did was misleading because she positively stated that Danny was the father.”
Judge Henry thanked the jurors for their service and warned Saville it was a “pity” she did not plead guilty due to the “extremely strong case” against her.
She will be sentenced on November 5.